Can You Lose Your Salvation?

Alright. Well, let's turn to our Bibles to chapter 22 of Luke. Luke chapter 22. And the title of my message is: “Can you

lose

your

salvation

?” Have you ever heard of the Hope Diamond? It is described as the most perfect blue diamond in the entire world. It is one of the most valued gems on the planet with an estimated value of 250 million dollars. It has an amazing story. It has been passed down by several kings and queens. It was originally in the possession of King Louis of France, who gave it to Marie Antoinette. Catherine the Great had it for a time.

Referring to my wife, of course. No. So did King George of England. And several other rich people. But despite its enormous value, one of the Hope Diamond's more eccentric owners often tied it to her dog's collar while she lived in Washington, D.C. And she apparently often lost it at parties and made it a cakewalk to find the Hope Diamond. Can you imagine something like that? Well, it eventually passed into the hands of a diamond merchant named Harry Winston. He eventually donated it to the Smithsonian Institution where it is now located. But here's the interesting thing.

Harry Winston sent the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian Institution via US mail, which is a risky proposition wrapped in a brown paper bag to begin with. Can you imagine being the person who opens the email that day? Ah, we have this. Oh well, look at this. It is the diamond of hope. Imagine that something so valuable is so neglected. Get put in a dog collar, get lost at a party, and get wrapped in a brown paper bag. It is now locked away at the Smithsonian Institution, behind bulletproof glass. But I believe there is something more valuable than the Hope Diamond that is often not appreciated.

And I speak of course about our personal

salvation

. That incredible gift that God gives to each person who puts their faith in Jesus Christ. This is truly the greatest thing that God has given each of us. And many times we take it for granted. There is the story in the gospels of when the disciples went out and the Lord gave them power to perform miracles and cast out demons. And when they returned from their trip they were so excited and full of passion and they told Jesus how the demons came out at his command. And this is what the Lord told them in Luke chapter 10 verse 20: “He says, 'Do not rejoice that demons are subject to you, but rather rejoice because

your

names are written in heaven.'” “Guys get perspective here. .

Get the big picture, which is this. You are saved. You go to heaven. Nothing is more important than that.” And that is why the Bible describes this as a great salvation that becomes ours when we believe in Christ. Ephesians 2:8 tells us, “By grace we are saved through faith, not of ourselves; It is the gift of God, not of works, so that no one can boast." And remember that salvation includes something called justification that we explore together. Justification that includes both the negative and the positive. It speaks of the removal of all our sins which are now forgiven and forgotten.

And it also speaks to the righteousness of Jesus Christ being placed in our spiritual bank account, so to speak. And on top of that, because we are saved, we are also adopted into the family of God. This is what God has done for us. And it is a wonderful thing. But now, as a result of receiving this salvation, the Scriptures tell me to figure it out. “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” The Bible does not say, "Work out your own salvation." That's impossible. But figure it out. Or another way of saying it. Work from your own salvation.

Live it. Play. Let it apply to every area of ​​your life. OK. So when you believe in Jesus and you are saved, this is something that God has given you and you need to know that not only are you saved but you are also safe. God protects and guards his own children. Romans 8:38 says, “I am convinced that nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God. Death cannot. Life can't. Angels can't. The demons can't. Our fears of today, our worries about tomorrow, even the powers of hell cannot keep the love of God away.

Whether we are high above the sky or deep in the ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God revealed in Jesus Christ our Lord.” We are saved. And we are safe. But now listen to this. God does not save anyone against his will. He also will not hold anyone against his will. You see, now that we have been saved, we should never boast about God's grace. We must seek to live as followers of Jesus Christ because it is possible for us to fall away from the faith even as believers.

Writing to believers there, the author of Hebrews says in Hebrews 3:12: “See to it, brothers, that there is not in any of you an evil heart of unbelief to depart from the living God. But exhort one another while today's convocation lasts, so that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” That was written for believers. “The brothers do not depart from the living God. Warning believers about other people who could lead them astray, Peter writes in 2 Peter 3:17: “Therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, beware, lest you also fall from your steadfastness, being carried away by error.” of the wicked. "Falling away from the living God.

Falling from our own steadfastness. That brings us to the topic of the message. Can a Christian

lose

his salvation? Once you are saved, can you stop being saved? Well, that's not an easy question to ask. answer. But I'll try. Then you're ready. You might want to write this. Can a Christian lose his salvation? My answer. I don't know. It seems doubtful. But here's my follow-up question. Why would you want to go further? Look here That's what worries me. There are people who want to know how they can be saved and still live like they're not. They want to know they're going to heaven but they still want to live like hell.

Basically they want to live in two worlds and they want to know even to what extent they can get away with this and still technically be Christians. To begin with, this is a dangerous question and proposition. Because if you have truly been saved, it seems like your life should change dramatically. We are told in Titus 2:11–14 “The grace of God has been revealed bringing salvation to all people. Therefore we are instructed to turn away from ungodly living and sinful pleasures and should live in this evil world with self-control, right conduct and devotion to God, while we eagerly await the event when the Lord will return again.

Because He gave his life for us to cleanse us from all kinds of sin and to make us his own people fully committed to doing what is right.” Is that a description of your life today as a follower of Jesus? Are you fully committed to doing the right thing? In other words, if you have truly been saved, there will be results in your life. What did Jesus say? You'll know them by their Christian bumper stickers. No I dont think so. You will know them through his Bibles. It's great to have Bibles. Even that is enough. No.

He said, “By their fruits you will know them.” People should be able to see spiritual fruits. Changes in your life that will indicate to them that you are a true follower of Christ. Because 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is another kind of person. Old things have passed away. Everything becomes fresh and new.” Is that a description of your life right now? Are you one of those people who tries to live in two worlds? In that intermediate state. This is what Jesus thinks about it. Writing to the Laodicean church in Revelation 3, Jesus said, “You are neither cold nor hot.

How I wish you were one or the other. Therefore,” says Christ, “because you are neither cold nor hot, but lukewarm, I will vomit you out of my mouth.” The Message translation of the same verse is as follows. “I know you inside and out, and I find little to my liking. You do not have cold; are not you hot; It's much better to be hot or cold! You are stale. You are stuck. “You make me want to throw up.” That's a little harsh. It's also pretty accurate. That is exactly what Christ is saying. You know it just doesn't work for me.

This is not what I'm looking for. You are neither one nor the other. Remember years ago. We bought something called a backpack stroller. Now let me explain to you. For those of you who have traveled with children, you know how many baby accessories you should bring with you. Good. We recently traveled and took our entire family, our grandchildren, and that's a lot of things. I mean, I'm bad enough with my computer and all that and you have to take off your shoes and your belt and all the crazy stuff they make you do now. But then when you start bringing all that baby stuff, you know two baby car seats and one or two strollers.

And you know I feel sorry for anyone who supports us. OK. Years ago we were traveling abroad and Jonathan was a little boy at the time. I think he's maybe a couple years old. And so, before I left, instead of grabbing a car seat and a stroller, I heard about something called a backpack stroller. So I bought it. But I didn't try it first. And when I got there I realized that I had purchased an item that was worthless. The backpack stroller. Basically the problem was that it didn't work well. It was a terrible backpack and a horrible stroller.

Because when I put it in the backpack and put it on my back, it had these wheels that dug into my back. And then when I took it out and turned it into a stroller, it didn't have back wheels, so you had to hold it the whole time. And then he's there like this and I hold him like this. I say, "This is worthless." So now we use that phrase for anything that doesn't work quite right. You already know that it is a backpack type stroller. A kind of reference point. I think there are some believers in backpack strollers, so to speak.

They're not doing well either. They do not live fully for the Lord. But they are partially in the world. Kind of like people who go to a place that specializes in coffee and want a low-fat decaffeinated latte. It's like why. You know, the other day I walked into a Starbucks with a person who ordered that. I won't say who. Martin Goetz. But I said, "All the fun is over." Decaffeinated. Skim coffee with milk. You know that Jesus said that we must be salt and salt that has lost its flavor is of no use. And there are many Christians who are not salty.

They are like decaffeinated Christians. OK. I think we should decide what we want to do and not try to live on the edge, but try to be as close to the Lord as possible. So can you lose your salvation? That's a difficult question to answer. But here's a better question to ask instead. Was this person even a Christian to begin with? Look, sometimes we'll see a person. It will seem as if they have made a commitment to Christ, but after a while they return to their old life and never return. And then we wonder if they lost their salvation.

Here is my question. Did they have salvation to begin with? Because it seems to me that if they leave and never come back they were never Christians. Look, I think we have to ask another question. Are we prodigal or are we a pig? Now don't be offended by that. Understand that it is biblical. You have all heard the story of the prodigal son. Good. How about the story of the prodigal pig? That is also in the Bible. 2 Peter 2:21. He says: “It would have been better for them not to have known the right way to live than to know it and reject the holy commandment that was given to them.

They make these proverbs true. “A dog returns to its own vomit and a washed pig returns to the mud.” There are many reasons why I know the Bible is true. Two of them are in this verse. I have seen a dog return to his own vomit. Crazy animals. I mean you've probably seen it too. And they say that dogs have the cleanest mouths of all animals. I see people kissing dogs. Yes ok. After returning his own vomit, he washes it with toilet water. And he wants to kiss you. And a pig returns to the mud. Now, pigs are truly amazing animals.

They are great. Especially next to eggs. I love pork. Sausage. Bacon. All of them. But very intelligent animals. Some have even turned pigs into pets. I know a person who has two dogs, three cats and a pot-bellied pig. Enough about her husband. Oh tough people. Tough crowd. But I don't know if a pig really makes a great pet. I was doing some research on pigs and discovered that they like to eat some pretty strange things like tree bark, rotting corpses, garbage, and even other pigs. According to this article, captive pigs have been known to eat their own offspring if they are stressed.

What stresses a pig out, you know? And the reason pigs like to hang out in the mud is because they don't have sweat glands and that's how they cool off. Just as a dog cools itself by panting, a pig cools itself by getting into the mud. And they also burn easily in the sun and that's why they spend time in the mud. Then you can take a pig and try to tame it. And you can put sunscreen all over it, you know, put some sunglasses on it and some perfume and a cute little hat if you want.

And you know that the first chance the pig will get, it will go straight into the mud. Because? Because a pig is a pig. As sure as a horse is a horse. Of course of course. Unless, of course, it's a talking horse. What was that one called?move forward again and run the race of life. So let us speak to hearts now as we pray.